The bandstand was alive this evening as people danced and swayed on the floor to the tune of the brass quartet blasting jubilant notes from the far stage. Men in vests and trousers twirled women in layered and lace slips while others mingled in groups beyond the dance floor smoking decorated pipes and drinking frozen cocktails that beaded with condensation in the hot early summer air. There were multitudes of colors in endless different shades mixed with black and white where appropriate. The men boasted pocket watches with long, elaborate chains, and their white-gloved hands clutched canes with diamond, jade, or gold heads carved into the shapes of wolves, birds of prey, or large rotating gears. They wore brightly colored vests and matching long-tailed coats. Nearly half wore tall top hats wrapped in silk and embellished with glittering pins. Many of the men proudly sported expensive monocles nestled between cheekbones and eyebrows rimmed and studded with the rarest fragments of jewels. Women were of course no less elaborate, draped in layers of delicately dyed silk with large crinoline skirts or billowing multi-layered petticoats. around them. The lace was delicately embroidered with gold, silver, or multicolored threads in intricate floral motifs or abstract designs. Her shoulders billowed out like great clouds and drooped to reveal an ample cleavage that was kept clearly visible by the corsets that cinched her waist. From their ears hung large, glittering precious stones, and their necklines dripped with silver and gold, inlaid with glittering sapphires, rubies, or emeralds. Each woman's hair was pinned higher than the next's, dotted with crusty barrettes and combs. A few of the more elaborate with... middle of paper ...... insert the emerald pendant around Ambur's neck into a silk-gloved palm. He studied it curiously and turned to Aaren: "Because... I didn't know such small emeralds existed! How curious." Ambur suppressed a rush of fury, she wasn't sure how much longer she could take this gear-headed cow, and was only slightly relieved when she dropped the pendant. "I'm thirsty and need better company." The woman looked at Ambur and returned her attention to Aaren: "I'll see you later this evening." she turned to him with a hand under her chin and a kiss on the cheek. Aaren waited to wipe her deep red lipstick on a napkin until the woman walked away, her crinoline bouncing in step with her pile of curls. "What a terrible woman!" Ambur hissed, handing Aaren his empty stemmed glass. "This time bring me some liqueur. Champagne is for respectable connoisseurs!"